


Kagawa Date

by bnbc



Category: Cyberpunk 2077 (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Drama, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Post-Canon, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-26
Updated: 2021-01-26
Packaged: 2021-03-12 08:28:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,420
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29007588
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bnbc/pseuds/bnbc
Summary: Goro and V have their date in Kagawa.Post-devil ending
Relationships: Goro Takemura/Female V, Goro Takemura/V
Comments: 12
Kudos: 53





	Kagawa Date

**Author's Note:**

  * A translation of [Свидание в Кагаве](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/749388) by Ilnejin. 



V looks at onigiri, onigiri can't look back at her, of course, but there is some kind of challenge in it. This pile of rice wants to dare her, it's as clear as day. It’s also clear that V cannot win this fight. 

“I give up,” she says, putting onigiri back to the tray, which is already surrounded by other squads of battered, but not broken, edible fighters. “It’s hella tasty, but I’m done for.”

V puts her elbows on the table, which is inappropriate, pours sauce on the food, which is also inappropriate, V sticks her chopsticks into rice, which can be considered a local disaster, but there is no condemnation in the look that Goro gives her.

“The real food,” V pulls out one of the chopsticks and pokes the onigiri in its chubby side, unable to accept her defeat with dignity. “Just as you promised. Thanks, Goro.”

He cooked everything himself. V volunteered to help, but Goro only drove her away from the table, making her stand and watch. So she stood there, watching how the fingers, literally made for pulling the trigger or gripping the sword hilt, punctured a dimple in a handful of rice with a precise touch to make a place for the filling, and then formed a neat triangle out of it, over and over again. 

“Let us go then,” Goro says, reaching for his jacket. “We do not have much time.”

Fair enough. V sighs heavily, but not only because she ate too much, then clasps her hands on the back of her head and stretches. The best feeling in the world. Okay, not the best, but it’s in her top 10 for sure. 

Goro pours a few pills from the bottle into his palm, breaks one of them, and swallows a half of it without drinking. 

“Are you alright?”

“I am. Ready to go?”

“I'm always ready, so c’mon, show me your Kagawa.”

“Kagawa is the name of the prefecture, V, the city’s name is Takamatsu.”

Like she cares. V takes his hand — very impertinent of her — and drags him past the elevator, to the fire escape, and runs down, jumping over the steps, and stops only when she reaches the street, laughing. The sun is already starting to set, but there are still a few hours before dusk. Less than all the time in the world, but more than nothing.

They take a taxi to the Downtown area. Goro has a plan, schedule and route, but Goro also has V who says “screw this park, we’ll go there next time” and pulls him into the interweaving streets and alleys, full of tiny bars. 

“I have a compass in my head,” she laughs. “Like a bar radar.”

V orders some drinks. The woman behind the counter looks at Goro disapprovingly, and V likes to think that it's because they are sitting too close to each other, with their knees and elbows touching. Banana liqueur is gently enveloping her tongue, while she pushes her fingers under his palm that rested on the counter, and smiles, feeling her touch returned. 

They don’t stay there long: the sunset isn't going to watch itself, and soon they head towards the port. V is mostly silent: she has nothing in particular to talk about, and she also doesn't want to get distracted. There is no past or future for her now, only present, and she lives in the moment, almost like in Night City, only without bullets whistling over her head and viruses breaking into her system. She likes it. She could even get used to it.

The waterfront smells of the sea, yet a bit strange, and V doesn’t immediately understand what’s wrong. Then she gets it: there is no chemical fragrance of the Pacifica beach, and without it the smell seems faint, almost unfamiliar. Sunset starts right on schedule, and when they reach the old lighthouse its glass panels flare up with reflected light. Waves hit the concrete of the pier, and she wants to stay here for longer, but this is not the last point in their route. 

Goro doesn’t let her take the wheel.

“What could possibly go wrong,” V grumbles, settling into the passenger seat. “I've been driving since I was fourteen, I don’t care what kind of traffic you have here.”

“Sure” says Goro, swallowing the other half of the pill. “You usually drive on the opposite lane anyway.” 

V opens both windows, turns the radio to maximum volume and sings along even if she doesn't know the lyrics. The place is not far away, but the sunset is quickly dying out, and when they stop near the observation deck, the sky is already dark. However the stars aren’t visible even here. 

The site is full of people, mostly couples. They barely find a place near the parapet, and V, of course, immediately climbs onto it. The city beneath her feet is like a sea of light with all the street lamps, shiny advertising, buildings’ illumination; V wants to push off and dive in, and get hit like it's water, breaking into a million fragments, which will immediately be carried away by a wave.

Goro squeezes her wrist, tugs gently, and V jumps after all — back, and freezes, pressing her back against him. 

“I am sorry,” he whispers in her ear after a couple of minutes. “I am sorry. It is time”. 

Before starting the car, he makes her buckle up. V obeys, but climbs into the seat with her legs, rests her chin on her knees, imagining vividly what can happen with her in case of an accident. Goro swears under his breath and pulls out of the parking lot. 

There won’t be any accident though: they don’t return to the city, but drive along the highway, where there is no one but them and a line of trucks controlled by artificial intelligence. The headlights lit up trees out of the darkness on a rocky roadside; music is pouring from the speakers, some old British junk, and V vaguely remembers the tune, but not the lyrics, and listens attentively.

The chorus is played for the second time, and when the voice sings about the lights that will guide her home, V realizes that she is crying. She turns away, exposing her face to the wind, as if that might help in any way.

It’s bitter and painful, but she remembers every moment to the smallest detail, because she knows how precious they are. 

“I don’t want to,” V says as the gate at the entrance to the complex slowly rises. “I just don't want to.”

“It is not forever, I promise.”

“Right.”

“V,” Goro takes her chin and holds it, not letting her turn away. “V, have I ever lied to you?”

“You didn’t tell me everything,” V reminds him. “But no, you didn't lie.”

“That is it.”

That is it. Goro helps her out of the car and they kiss illuminated by all the headlights and floodlights, not caring about who is looking and what they can and cannot see. 

“Right on schedule,” the guard notes as they walk down the hallway of the complex. Behind them the gratings clang, one after the other, as if they were of any use here. “How was it?”

Goro doesn't answer. He also doesn’t answer to a medical technician in a blue-and-white uniform with the “Arasaka” logo, while she is strapping him to the chair, reminding him of the data and reports on the experimental chip. Another technician starts the equipment: lights flash, screens come online.

V bends over Goro, runs her thumb across his cheek, trying to wipe away the tear, but his hands are already strapped to the armrests, so the tear remains. 

“V,” he breathes out her name. “I…”

“...I know” V manages to answer right before everything around her disappears, and when it comes back, her world consists of lights and numbers once again, and Goro is no longer around, only the endless indifferent cold of “Mikoshi” interfaces. 

Twelve hours, miraculously ripped from eternity, had passed, and V was seized, put on a shelf into the archive, returned to her cell. All the time in the world is crashing on her with its endless weight, but now V has something to hold on to: half of the day spent in Takamatsu city of Kagawa prefecture, and a promise that this is not forever. 

After all, he had never really lied to her. 

Just didn’t tell her everything.


End file.
